Consciousness is an operation on data

I have to upgrade my terminology. I used to say that consciousness is a memory buffer. That's not entirely correct. I was explaining to a chap why playing music to displace aural imagination is memory management. Consciousness is actually an operation on data. What he is doing is displacing an input stream he cannot control with a stream that he can control.

Education is not for everyone

Education is not for everyone. Many people believe that education is an ability to recall symbols (ideas) or signals (actions) - pretty much what you would expect of any nervous system. So to them, having more education is having more memories. Personally, I prefer a more symmetrical paradigm - the ability to delete memories is equally important in education. Many people are beholden to their ideas - you only have to dig a little, starting at superficial preferences like what sundry, food, or dress, they prefer ... go deeper and you find social mores of what is considered polite, or rude ... deeper still and you can make a person vomit by producing in them specific ideas ... these are learned behaviours. Educations implies that you have the option to be disaffected by any idea. Nothing is sacred. Feel free to throw up, if you must.

Morning Meditations

Breakfast: Retiring before graduation was a decision with interesting outcomes. I anticipated to receive very little, but as luck would have it many opportunities have availed themselves, as would befall the average person who wonks away at things while enforcing the discipline of avoiding predictable outcomes whenever it is affordable. Today I am a little light headed, and taking stock of recent privileges collected over the past day. I think with regards to society I still focus more in tactical victories, as there is nothing I seek strategically which I do not already have. I retain my strategy of generally not allowing myself to be motivated by the opinions of what other people think is good or bad. On to the next day already.

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Probably spent about two hours in total breaking into my own rooms because the locks lack keys. Thinking of changing the locks. I should rethink my priorities ;)

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Lol: two days ago the bathroom (easier, plastic card will do); today the front door (kick in, after multiple other attempts).

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After that: Showered, burritoed myself, and had a good think about who I associate with and whether I'm making investments aligned with my long term strat.

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The snoozetation presents me with the thought that many of my recent inconveniences continue to be due to my association with individuals who believe in retaining attachments to other people: some encounter trauma when they are unable to detach their thoughts from individuals, such as family or lovers; others enjoy the material benefits of creating intricate illusions between numerous other parties. All of them are afraid of disillusionment, either in themselves, or in their societies. Whereas disillusionment is one of my core strategies for profit. So, I think this is something I must keep in mind more, as I diversify my portfolio of associations to continuously include people who are unlike myself.

Hackathons do not inspire me

Why hackathons do not inspire me. Most of the common solutions that need to be deployed which have not, are CRUD apps with unique workflows - software developers hence get excited about solving business problems without any core tech innovation. Because workflows can't be copyrighted, any CRUD app can be cloned fairly quickly if it does indeed produce a novel and bankable workflow innovation. Forget about workflows for a moment - say you're developing some core IP that is really technogically innovative. Hackathons are the wrong place anyway. What are hackathons REALLY about? Hackathons are marketing platforms for people who already have core tech or business solutions which could benefit from access to capital, or access to networks. The prize money, the fervour, and sense of achievement ... are just condiments. Little distractions. But of course, you are not me, so hackathons may inspire you. :)

Navigating Sedition in Malaysia: a tactical guide for business users

In Malaysia, it is technically illegal to irritate anyone else, intentionally. Yes, that's the gist of various laws pertaining to sedition, and also electronic communications. However, because the laws are so ridiculously stringent, most people break these laws casually, and enforcement policies (distinguished from the law itself) are generally weak. In short, we have useless laws which everyone pretends do not exist - there are many examples of such laws in other domains besides irritation, but we shall skip them for now. In short, many domains of life in Malaysia are essentially lawless, and subject to jungle rule - the strong get to decide when, and how, the weak will suffer. That is a rudiment of Malaysian society which I have been familiar with for ... only my entire life. Hell, I even spent time in college preparing myself physically and mentally for solitary confinement, in case it ever befalls me due to the whims of any powers that may be.  Providing business counsel to friends in such an environment is therefore usually less about legal strategies, and more a matter of folk wisdom. Nevertheless, in an advisory note I wrote yesterday, a couple of points were key. 

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+1.

If for example, you are going to irritate someone, knowing full well that it is illegal, you should perhaps consider the physical safety of that someone, and besides irritating them, you may want to avoid adding physical danger to their person. The liabilities for these are two separate items. Hence while name-calling is a perpetual part of our weekly lives as Malaysian citizens, sending mobs to harass others is taking it to the next level entirely. Lesson one: you should be aware of these differences, prior to any action.

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+2.

By definition, a mob is amok. It does not subject itself to specific control, and hence while you can be guilty of intentionally inspiring a mob, you may not be easily found liable for the things the amok mob may do, even if it results in bodily harm, economic loss, social castigation, or death, of whomever the mob attacks. However, if you make a public claim that your intentions are ill ... that may be brought against you, as a testament against your character, if it ever comes to question in a formal proceeding what your responsbilities were at the time you intentionally inspired a mob. Therefore, if you have any ill intentions, it is best to keep those claims private, even as you publically inspire others to achieve your hidden intentions. This is for your own defense - you may not be a well-intentioned person, but by keeping your secrets well, you may be a more legally defensible fellow that the other who makes vengeful claims in public. Lesson two: if you're going to be an asshole, try to keep yours costs down, and you may be able to perpetuate that assholery for a longer time.

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+3.

Finally, let's say you've made a public claim that your intentions are evil. Very well, a naive reader would take you at your horrible word, and perhaps hold it against you - but a moderately experienced person would also question the nature of your claim: are you really an ill intentioned person, or did you simply wish to make a false public claim in order to get others to react to that claim? If it is the latter, then you are probably doing okay. However, if you were actually wearing your heart on your sleeve, then you have opened up an operational security vulnerability, as anyone who watches now knows that they can get you to behave in specific ways by stimulating your heartfelt tendencies. (This opsec issue is separate, and in addition to the legal vulnerability exposed in 2. above.) Lesson three: don't help your haters to predict your behaviour.

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And with that, I leave you to these basic considerations. None of this constitutes professional advice, and you are free to ignore, or interpret it within your own biases. I hope only that some readers may benefit from such tactics, to their own advantage.